Cooking is Hard Work!

I recently undertook my biggest single cooking endeavor to date: a co-worker’s wedding shower. This was difficult not only because it was dinner for 30 people, but also because I was cooking for some of my favorite people and I wanted them to know how much I cared for them via the food that I cooked.

In order to display my love for these people (especially Lisa and Cameron, the brides-to-be) I cooked as much of the food from scratch as possible. And cook from scratch I did! There are too many recipes to put them all here, so look below for photos and links!

The hors d’oeuvres

Zucchini Fritters

Jalepeno Poppers

and Cheese Straws

Main Course and Side Dishes

Brisket

Hamburger Buns

Roasted Veggie Pasta Salad

Also there but not pictured:
Barbecue Sauce
Summer Corn Soup (I served it chilled)
Basil and Mint Melon Salad
Ranch Dressing for a lovely green salad

For dessert we had…

Red Velvet Cupcakes and Lime Bars

All in all the feast was a huge success and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again!

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas with Tomatillo-Basil Green Sauce

‘What an odd recipe!’ you might be thinking to yourself. Well, despite an odd name this dish is delicious. ‘But why pineapple and basil?’ you may ask. Foodie Fights! I would reply. Yes everyone, my very first blogging competition!

As I’ve already proven on this blog, I love enchiladas, and although it was not the first dish my mind jumped to for the competition they turned out better than I could have expected. I have been wanting to try making green enchiladas for a while and basil seemed like the perfect way to make the sauce extra green! Sadly, of course, I wasn’t thinking when I added chili powder to the sauce, so it’s not really that green, but the lightness and spice of a green enchilada sauce is there, and this time it has the added flavor of basil. Although I was a little nervous about just throwing basil in willy-nilly it really did upgrade enchiladas to a summer dish and it complemented the sauce really well.

And that other ingredient, pineapple? Well, you wouldn’t normally put pineapple in enchiladas either, but when my dear friend Sarah swore by a recipe for pineapple-black bean enchiladas I knew I had a match made in heaven. Enchiladas are sometimes a time-consuming dish to make, but they aren’t difficult. The flavor combination of the black beans, pineapple, red pepper, and onion was delicious, the softness of everything and the combining flavors of the peppers, onion, and pineapple together was really surprisingly wonderful, especially when compared to the bright flavor of the sauce.

The sauce does take some time to make, but you could make it on a weekend and refrigerate or even freeze it until needed. Green sauces keep color really well if/when frozen, so both the tomatillos and basil would maintain their lovely verdant appeal even if you made the sauce in advance.

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas with Tomatillo-Basil Green Sauce
adapted from here and here

Ingredients

Green Enchilada Sauce
1 pound peeled and washed tomatillos
1 medium white onion (coarsely chopped)
1/4 cup olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon mild chili powder (next time I would use spicy roasted chiles to achieve spice and maintain green color)
1 4oz can diced green chilies
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup packed basil leaves

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
1 medium red bell pepper (chopped)
1 medium pineapple (peeled and finely diced)
1 15oz can black beans (drained)
1 4oz can chopped green chiles
8 whole wheat flour tortillas (taco size)
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro/basil mixture (for garnish)
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream (for garnish)

Method

Sauce
In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, place the olive oil, onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add the broth, tomatillos, cumin, chili powder (or spicy roasted chilies) and green chilies and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, continue cooking until the tomatillos are soft (about 30 minutes). Cool until room temperature. At this point, you may refrigerate sauce for later or freeze. When ready, process sauce with blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender. Right when you are about the blend the sauce add the basil leaves and blend sauce until smooth.

Enchiladas
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Remove the edible flesh from the pineapple and dice it fine. To this bowl add the black beans and green chilies. Let the flavors meld while you dice the onion and pepper.

Saute the onion and pepper with the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until they are tender and the onion is translucent. Add the onion/pepper mix to the pineapple/black bean mixture.

Assembly
Pour a small amount of sauce into the bottom of a 13×9 baking dish so that the enchiladas don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Taking your tortillas one at a time, dip them in the remaining sauce, spoon them full of the pineapple/black bean filling, roll it up, and place it seam side down into the pan. Repeat until pan is full. Pour enough remaining sauce into the pan to submerge the enchiladas. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Garnish with sour cream, fresh cilantro or basil, lime wedges, or whatever else you’d like!

Enjoy!

The Foodie Fights Competition has begun! Vote below!

Who Won Battle Pineapple Basil?(surveys)

Soft Shell Crabs Almondine

Soft shell blue crabs are a seasonal specialty that are only available in the late spring/early summer when blue crabs shed their hard outer shells but before their new ones are fully formed. They are quite expensive if you are going to order them in a restaurant, but they are quite easy to make at home! Soft shell crabs are one of my dad’s absolute favorite foods and we usually have them for his birthday. Unfortunately, there were other things going on for his birthday this year so we decided to have them for Father’s Day instead!

You can buy soft shell crabs at many seafood stores, although you may want to call ahead and reserve them because when they are in season they are really popular! One crab is enough for smaller appetites like me and my mom but my dad and brother can easily knock back two, so buy accordingly. Some people are intimidated by cooking soft shell crabs at home because they are a mess to clean, however if you ask nicely they will clean them for you at the fish market.

The recipe itself couldn’t be easier, so the only hurdle is convincing yourself that you can do it! Each of the steps in the recipe are so simple, but the result is so delicious! Please go out and buy some soft shell crabs for a loved one (or yourself) today!

Soft Shell Crabs Almondine

Ingredients
1-2 soft shell crabs per person

note- if you buy crabs that have been previously frozen you can soak them in some milk to help them plump back up.

1 1/2 cups flour
1-2 TBS Creole or Old Bay seasoning
butter
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Method
1) Mix together flour and Creole/Old Bay seasoning on a plate.
2) Rinse crabs and set on a dry paper towel. Don’t dry them off because the water will be all that helps the flour coating stick to the crabs.
3) One by one dredge the crabs in the flour mix, making sure to get all the nooks and crannies on both sides. When finished, place the crabs on a clean, dry cookie sheet.
4) Once all of the crabs have been dredged melt enough butter to thoroughly coat the bottom of a large saute pan. If you want to cook all the crabs at once you may need to have 2 pans going at the same time.
5) When the butter has melted and the pan is good and hot place the crabs in the pan top side down. Cook on medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
6) Flip the crabs after 5 minutes, adding more butter as needed. Once you have flipped the crabs, add the almonds (distributing evenly if you’re using two pans). Cook the second side for five minutes, minding that the almonds get nice and toasty but not burnt.
7) Serve with a wedge of lemon and some coleslaw and enjoy this quintessential summer treat!

Lemon Mint Granita (with a secret ingredient!)

For Father’s Day I wanted a light refreshing dessert and when I came across this recipe on Smitten Kitchen I knew this would be perfect! Even better, Deb suggested using limoncello which my mom just happens to make and store in our freezer!

The combination of lemon and mint, with a slight kick from the limoncello (I only used a 1/2 cup because I wanted to make sure that the granita would freeze properly) is incredibly refreshing and perfect on a summer night, even if it isn’t so warm out. Using the hollowed out lemons makes for a lovely presentation and it is pretty easy if you employ both a grapefruit knife (bent, serrated blade) and a grapefruit spoon (serrated tip) to completely clean out the lemon.

The freshness of the mint and the tartness of the lemon all brought together with a little liquer and a little sugar, ugh, to die for! So, without further ado:

Lemon-Mint Granita
Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
4 lemons
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup limoncello
4 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
30 mint leaves (a handful)

Method
1) Slice the tops off the lemons (and a little bit off the bottom so they sit up for serving) and remove all of the pulp and pith from the inside using a grapefruit knife for the primary work and a grapefruit spoon for all the clean up. Do this over a bowl so as to lose as little juice as possible. If you are using the empty lemon shells for serving: place them in the freezer so they can firm up.

2) Pluck 30 or so mint leaves and throw them and the lemon innards into a blender and blend it within an inch of its life (about 1 minute). You want it to be so that the mint is tiny little flecks. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes so that the flavors can meld.

3) Pour the lemon-mint puree into a fine mesh sieve and extract as much liquid out of it as possible. You don’t want to have a chunky granita, so it’s ok if a little mint gets through, but don’t let anything else pass you by!

4) Add to the lemon-mint juice the water and limoncello (if you’re using it). Mix and add sugar 1 TBS at a time until you reach the desired sweetness.

5) Pour this wonderful mixture into a baking pan, making sure that the liquid doesn’t stand more than 1 inch deep (so that it doesn’t take too long to freeze).

6) Put the pan in the freezer. Break up the semi-frozen liquid after about an hour and then leave it undisturbed to freeze the rest of the way, about 2-3 hours.

7) When ready to serve break the granita into little pieces/flakes by raking back on it with a fork. Spoon the little crystals into the lemon cups or serving cups and eat immediately! Enjoy the brain freeze!

Chicken Paprikash

Chicken Paprikash is another traditional Hungarian dish that is popular in my family, but unlike lecso we don’t only make it when my grandmother is in town. While it is a hot dish my family loves it all year round and we make it for all kinds of special occasions; I often request it for my birthday dinner.

The key to this dish, as the name would suggest, is really good paprika. Good HUNGARIAN paprika, none of this spanish stuff. As the only seasoning other than salt in this dish you want to have a paprika that is neither too sweet, spicy, or smoky and the Pride of Szeged has always been the paprika of choice at my house.

With a delicious sauce thickened with sour cream and served with some spätzle and green beans it is a delicious dish that takes some time to prepare but is not difficult. Give it a try some Sunday night and I know you will love it!

Chicken Paprikash
A recipe from my grandmother (and slightly adapted by my mother)

Ingredients
2 1/2 – 3 lbs of bone-in, skin on chicken breasts and thighs
3 TBS fat of your choice (a good Hungarian would use lard, we use vegetable oil)
3 large onions, diced
3 heaping TBS paprika
2 tsp salt
a splash of water (if needed)
1 cup sour cream
3 TBS flour

Method
Place diced onions in a large soup pot and saute in fat until golden. Remove from heat and add paprika. Put back on heat and add chicken pieces (skin side down) so they are nestled in the onions. Let cook covered. Stir occasionally, making sure there is enough liquid in the pot, add up to a 1/2 cup of water if it looks too dry. Simmer covered until done, flipping the chicken when you think you’re about half way done. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside, removing the skin if desired.

Add to the pot a combination of 1 cup sour cream and 3 TBS flour, cook on low until sauce has thickened to desired level. Serve chicken and spätzle (or other starch) covered in the delicious sauce. Enjoy!

Book Review

This isn’t typical for a food blog, but I would like to take the time to review a book here. It is a cookbook of sorts, but it is also one of the most touching memoirs I have ever read. If you’re not involved in the food blog world you may not have heard of it, the book I am referring to is A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, creator of the beautiful Orangette.

I really don’t have any critiques for this book, it really did have me at ‘hello’. Molly ends her introduction by saying “In the simple acts of cooking and eating, we are creating and continuing the stories that are our lives.” This sentence nearly brought me to tears because it sums up, as closely as I have ever been able to, my feelings about why I love cooking and food.

More than just beautiful writing, this book is chock-full of amazing sounding recipes, many of which I hope to cook and (if I can get my act together enough) post here on this blog. If you haven’t read this book and you have time to please consider it. If you know me in real life I will be more than willing to lend it to you!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Depending on where you live the weather may just be starting to get consistently nice (as it is here in Portland) or it could be in the full throes of summer (as one of my Arizona-native roommates bemoans). We made this pie over Spring Break, which was a while ago now, even thought the weather wasn’t particularly springy at the time.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is always delicious, sweet from the strawberries and tart from the rhubarb with a lovely intermingling of cinnamon. This is a perfect recipe that is just sweet enough but one that doesn’t overwhelm the wonderful tart qualities of the rhubarb!

Bonus: What is wrong with this picture?

Answer: I am horrible at weaving lattice, notice the mistake in the upper left-hand corner. I could pretend that this was the only lattice mistake in the pie, but that would be untrue.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Pie recipe from here via Kit Leitschuh, crust recipe from Jan Layne.

Crust
In a large bowm mix together with a pastry blender until crumbly:
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups Crisco

In a cup mix together:
5 TBS cold water
1 TBS apple cider vinegar
1 egg, slightly beaten

Add the mixture in the cup to the mixture in the bowl. Mix with a large spoon, DO NOT OVER MIX!

Shape into 3-4 balls. Roll out each pie crust you intend on using right away and freeze the rest.

Pie
3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.

Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter flass pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

Homemade Chai

Today I attempted to make chai for the first time, hoping to end up with something akin to the Tazo Chai that they sell at Starbucks, but perhaps a little spicier, like my absolute favorite chai: Dragonfly Chai.

Unfortunately, my end product isn’t spicy and tastes a bit earthier than I would have liked. Ugh. Maybe I’ll try again sometime, but now I’m feeling a little defeated.

Here’s the recipe I tried, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could better it?

Homemade Chai
Adapted from Green and Clean Mom

Ingredients
12 cardamom pods (the big green ones) You can also just use cardamom seeds if you can’t find the pods.
4 sticks of cinnamon
1 star anise, broken into pieces
1 teaspoon whole cloves
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
10 whole black peppercorns (more for spicier tea)
1 scant teaspoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon orange peel, grated (fresh or dried)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup black tea leaves
4 cups skim milk
1/4 cup honey

Method
Fill a saucepan or stock pot with 4 cups of water and add all of the spice ingredients except the tea leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes (longer for stronger flavor). Add the tea leaves for the last five minutes.

Strain, add 4 cups milk, reheat for a minute and then add the sweetener. Makes about 8 cups of tea.

Chicken Mole Enchiladas

Before:

After:

As a friend once said, “I love enchiladas, they’re like delicious food already partly digested.” (or something like that). These chicken mole enchiladas pack a real wallop of flavor and have a wonderful saucy texture. The spiciness of the sauce and the creaminess of the chicken filling all with the brightness of a squeeze of lime juice is really divine!

The sauce is really what makes these enchiladas special. Mole is a red sauce with dark chocolate in it. I know, it sounds a little weird, but the dark chocolate really helps to mellow out the sauce and complements the smokiness of the chipotle peppers really nicely.

The chicken filling is really easy to make, which is nice since the sauce is the real star and a bit time intensive. If you wanted to have this as a weeknight meal you could make all of the component parts ahead of time and then simply assemble and bake when you are ready for dinner!

Chicken Mole Enchiladas
Adapted from Kirsten’s Home Cooking

Ingredients
For the enchiladas:
6-10 flour or corn tortillas (taco size)
4 bone-in skin-on chicken thigh, cooked and shredded
3/4 c light sour cream
one bunch green onions, chopped (white and green parts)
3 c grated cheddar, divided (1 cup and 2 cups)
Salt and Pepper

For the Mole Sauce:
The fat rendered from cooking 2 slices bacon (or equivalent amount cooking oil)
1 large onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
4 chipotle peppers packed in adobo sauce
2 TBS adobo sauce
4 cloves garlic
1/4 c warm water
1 14 oz can whole tomatoes, with juices
2 c chicken broth
1/4 c dark chocolate, chopped finely
Salt and pepper

Method
Directions for Mole Sauce:
Saute onion, carrot and celery in bacon fat (or substitute) until softened, about 5-10 minutes. Once vegetables have softened place them in a blender with the peppers, adobo sauce, tomatoes, garlic and water. Puree until smooth.

Return mixture to saucepan and add chicken broth. Simmer on high heat for 20-30 minutes until sauce has reduced and thickened. Stir in chocolate until melted. Salt and pepper to taste, keep sauce warm.

Directions for Enchiladas:
Mix chicken, sour cream, green onions and 1 cup cheese in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. Make sure that the chicken forms a nice solid mixture; tweak amount of sour cream as necessary.

Lay out tortillas, fill with chicken mixture.

Roll tightly and lay seam side down in a glass or metal 13×9 baking dish that has a thin layer of mole sauce already spread on the bottom (to prevent sticking and burning).

Cover with remaining sauce.

Top with remaining 2 cups cheese, more if you feel it’s necessary.

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

Serve with rice and beans with lime wedges and additional sour cream on the side!

Seared Ahi Sushi!

Do you like sushi? I don’t! My problem is that I have an aversion to the nori (seaweed) that is wrapped on the outside, I really don’t like the way it smells or tastes. That being said, I LOVE seared tuna. In order to combine the two a friend (soon to be introduced on this blog) and I embarked on an adventure to make seared ahi tuna rolls. Mine were made without seaweed and his were the traditional roll, but both were amazing!

The reason for searing the tuna (at least in our case) was that we had bought it a few days before and frozen it, meaning it was no longer safe to eat raw. We first marinated it and then seared it for 2 minutes on each side. We had a single 1/3 lb tuna steak that was more than enough for the 2 of us, so although sushi and sashimi grade tuna can be expensive when bought by the pound it is relatively reasonable for a few servings.

You could use almost any crunchy green veggie in these rolls. We used celery, but green beans or cucumber would have also worked well. The marinade was really simple and even letting the tuna marinate for only an hour gave it so much flavor! Searing is a quick process, so make sure to do it well. Have the pan really hot with just a little bit of oil in the bottom.

Seared Ahi Roll

Ingredients

1/3 lb tuna steak
1 batch marinade (see recipe below)
1 cup uncooked sushi rice, cooked per package instructions
2 ribs celery, cut in 1/2 the long way
3 sheets nori (sushi-rolling seaweed)
drizzle of vegetable oil
small dish of water for sealing the rolls
soy sauce and wasabi paste for dipping

Special equipment: bamboo rolling mat

Marinate tuna tightly covered in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Sear tuna in a hot pan with a drizzle of vegetable oil to keep it from sticking, approximately 2 minutes each side. Have all components ready to go when you put the tuna in the pan so that you can assemble everything while the tuna is still hot. When the tuna is done, cut it into 4 lengthwise strips, and then cut each of those strips lengthwise again so that they look like the slices in the top photo. Lay 1 sheet of seaweed onto the mat and spread 1/3 of the cooked rice all over the sheet except for a 1-inch border at the top. Lay 2 slices of tuna and 1 piece of celery lengthwise along the bottom of the rice. Using your finger, dab water along the top border and then roll the sushi shut, using the wet seaweed edge as a seal. Repeat for the next 2 sheets. Using a sharp knife, cut each roll into bite-size pieces. Put soy sauce and whatever amount of wasabi you like into a small dish, dip, and enjoy!

Tuna Marinade
for a 1/3 lb tuna steak
Adapted from Simply Recipes

1 TBSP canola/vegetable oil
1 TBSP soy sauce
1/2 TBSP of diced pickled ginger (or grated fresh, if you have it)
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 green onion (scallion) thinly sliced
Juice of 1/2 lime